How to create an effective learning environment

How to create an effective learning environment

As an SBM it is important to ensure that your school provides an effective learning environment for students, as well as a good environment for teachers too. It can be difficult to make changes to help your school be a better environment for everyone so staff and students can thrive.

To help, we have created a list with ideas on how to create an effective learning environment that SBMs can implement and try out to aid students and encourage staff. 

Address student and staff needs

Ensuring to keep students’ and staff’s needs in mind is a huge part of being an SBM. Staff will usually tell you their needs so that action can be taken. However, students can feel like they can’t change the way the school works.

Make sure to set in place a way that children can voice their needs whether that’s through a student committee or getting staff to round up opinions on paper. Doing this will allow you to take action to make changes for students. Plus, every student will be heard this way instead of a small few, making them feel more comfortable therefore their motivation for learning increases.

Assist teachers with classroom layout

Many factors involving classroom layouts can lead to an effective learning environment. Encourage staff to think about the layout of their classrooms and assist with making changes to improve students learning. Plus, a change around can be a huge boost for staff too as they spend a lot of time within the classroom therefore, they can feel motivated when layouts are changed.

A huge thing to consider is the comfort of students as well as staff. If they aren’t comfortable, they won’t feel motivated. This is especially the case for children as they can get distracted easily when uncomfortable. Think about getting some comfy seating to improve posture or a space where beanbags can be used to take a break in.

Let students and staff get to know you

Due to the amount of workload SBMs have, it sometimes feels impossible to go out into the school and let students and staff get to know you. Find time once a week to go into the staff room and have casual conversations with your staff. This way they will see you as the person you are rather than your job role. Ensure to talk to as many staff members as possible in a short amount of time so that you aren’t too long but give the opportunity to staff to talk to you.

For students create time to walk around the school so that they can start to recognise who you are. Set up meetings where you block out some time when students can approach you if needed. This will make a start on introducing yourself and let some students get to know you.

It’s always good to keep a mental note or for students to jot them down to remember so that you can also get to know your staff and students.

Build a safe and positive environment

Encourage an effective learning environment by building a safe and positive space where children can be comfortable to learn in and staff can thrive. Students who feel safe are more likely to trust your staff and you therefore participating in learning more. 

Staff and students need to feel accepted where they can be themselves. Also, students need to feel like they can make mistakes without being seen as a failure or judged. This will give you a higher quality of performance from the children and even the staff. 

Encourage staff to make sure that in feedback to students, they still give positives to make them feel rewarded for their work. This will give the critical positive environment that children need for success. You should also find ways to show appreciation for your staff. For further information on this, read our ‘staff Christmas activity ideas’ blog to reward your staff before the Christmas holidays.

Acknowledge diversity

Another key factor in how to create an effective learning environment is to acknowledge the diversity of students and staff including their different perspectives. Learning environments should encourage the individuality of students and staff. Encourage staff to mix with a diverse range of colleagues to share their perspectives and learn from others whilst gaining crucial advice from each other.

Ensure that students are also mixing with a diverse range of peers to share their ideas with during their learning as this can enhance what they learn, improving their knowledge on topics they may not know a lot about. Plus, it’s a great way to broaden their social circles and potentially make new friends.

Create a learner and knowledge focused environment

Strengthen students’ decision-making skills through a learner-focused environment. Allow students to decide what they want to learn and let them independently research it. This can replace some of the teacher-focused lessons and expand students’ knowledge in things they are interested in

Knowledge-focused environments go hand in hand in with learner-focused environments as students will be able to receive a plethora of diverse materials in their own research. However, direct your staff to resources they can use and ensure that everyone has a diverse range of materials to give to their students. This will lead to student success and improve your learning environment.

Be community driven

Encourage collaboration between learners by making your school community driven. Ensure that staff and their students have built trust amongst each other so that students feel like they can make mistakes without any repercussions. Oversee how your staff are working with their class to make sure that collaboration is prioritised over competition. Encourage critical thinking and problem solving through more group work so students want to participate more.

Connect with parents

Promote positive connections between yourself, staff, parents and students to make your effective learning environment run smoothly. Keep parents fully informed of updates for the school via email and letters so that they know what is going on. Aid staff in communicating with parents and encourage them to talk openly to them about homework to keep the learning process going. 

Create a system for parents to log onto or access to see important reminders that they need to know about. This could be a simple parent portal on your school's website.

Create a successful library

Libraries are perfect for supporting children’s learning which goes towards creating an effective learning environment. Stock up on a wide range of materials and books from fiction to non-fiction. Ensure that children can access these via the school library or reading corners. If you have a school library, encourage staff to find time to use it with their class to develop students' knowledge.

If you don’t have a school library, assist staff with creating a reading corner by stocking up on vital materials such as soft furnishings, bookshelves and even some plants.

Celebrate success

Ensure to celebrate students' success to make them feel appreciated and acknowledged. For small celebrations such as doing work well, stock up on some stickers that your staff can use to hand to them. For larger celebrations, host an awards assembly to show their success to the whole school. This will strive students to achieve and better themselves in everything they do.

Don’t forget to show appreciation and celebrate your staff's success too. They need to feel valued to work to their best ability which reflects on the students.

Try these ideas on how to create an effective learning environment and see if they work for your school. Make small changes at a time to implement and strive for a positive environment for both your students and your staff. Effective learning environments can really boost performance and moods as everyone feels valued and appreciated.

For further information on how to take care of your staff and students, read our ‘whole school wellbeing’ blog.